


and the songbirds are singing (like they know the score)

by luceminate



Series: Staubrey Week 2019 [6]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F, short and cute, this is just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 03:14:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18044411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luceminate/pseuds/luceminate
Summary: Staubrey WeekDay 6: Bella ConradIt came as a slight surprise to Stacie that Aubrey, the same Aubrey who had grown up in a strict and dysfunctional household, was just so good with her daughter.Bella seemed to unearth a side of Aubrey that was just so unbelievably soft, a side Stacie is almost positive even Aubrey didn’t know existed. But there she is, sat on the carpeted floor in front of the coffee table, sat right next to Bella, drawing outlines for the four year old to colour in.





	and the songbirds are singing (like they know the score)

The last person Stacie ever expected to burn down their kitchen was Aubrey Posen. She had the rest of the Bellas, herself included, way,  _ way,  _ ahead of Aubrey on that list. In fact, Aubrey wasn’t even on that list.

 

The woman was probably voted “Most Responsible” in High School. 

 

So it came as a shock when one evening Stacie receives a call from Aubrey, asking if it wouldn’t be too much trouble for her to move in with Stacie and Bella for a short time because her kitchen had gone up in flames and her apartment had been deemed uninhabitable until it could be renovated.

 

After the initial shock and panic of hearing Aubrey’s apartment had been on  _ fire  _ wore off, the worry that set in was quickly abated when the blonde reassured her that she was fine, hadn’t even been in the apartment when the fire had started; that the fire had been handled promptly because her smoke alarm had a direct line to the fire department because it was  _ Aubrey  _ and  _ of course it did _ .

 

Stacie had no qualms about having the blonde move in with her and Bella, she was more worried that Aubrey would soon regret asking to move into a house with an infant, even though she knew Bella absolutely adored the blonde and vice versa. She was excited to have her move in; another adult presence was a welcome change from the same day-in-day-out routine of raising a child. 

 

The fact that that change came in the form of a very attractive and smart blonde? Well, that was just a bonus.

 

Aubrey moved in the next day, taking over Stacie’s small office room that had a pullout couch after point-blank refusing to accept Stacie’s offer of taking the master bedroom. Stacie’s reasoning had been that her office shared a wall with Bella’s bedroom and the girl was prone to waking up in the middle of the night due to nightmares and she knew how much of a light sleeper Aubrey was.

 

Aubrey had brushed her off with an _ ‘it’s fine’ _ as she set herself up in the office and that was that. Stacie knew better than to argue.

 

*

 

The first few days of Aubrey staying with them flew by with ease, they’d quickly fallen into a steady routine, and Stacie’s apartment had never been cleaner. She has no idea where Aubrey found the time in the past three days to clean the whole damn place and reorganise Stacie’s film collection by genre, but she wasn’t complaining.

 

Bella had been well-behaved, even if Stacie knew her little body was bursting with excitement at having her favourite aunt living with them.

 

Stacie had not expected Aubrey to be as good with kids as she was; memories of Aubrey’s near dictatorial rein over the Bellas her freshman year of college creeping in, of her unflinching need for perfection and stopping at nothing to achieving it, stepping on quite a few toes on her way. Not to mention who Aubrey’s father was and how the blonde used to have past unwavering admiration of him, clinging onto his words to near unhealthy levels.

 

“If at first you don’t succeed, pack your bags.” Was  _ not  _ a good quote to live by, or a good lesson to impart on your  _ children _ .

 

Needless to say, Stacie was glad Aubrey no longer lived by her father’s words or strives for his unachievable levels of perfection and had, thankfully, mellowed out a lot over the years.

 

Even so, it still came as a slight surprise to Stacie that Aubrey, the same Aubrey who had grown up in a strict and dysfunctional single parent household, her mother having never been in the picture, was just  _ so good _ with her daughter. 

 

Bella seemed to unearth a side of Aubrey that was just so unbelievably  _ soft _ , a side Stacie is almost positive even  _ Aubrey  _ didn’t know existed. But there she is, sat on the carpeted floor in front of the coffee table, sat right next to Bella, drawing outlines for the four year old to colour in; whispering little jokes to the little girl that make her burst into little giggles, the giggles turning into squeals of laughter when Aubrey reaches over and begins to tickle her sides.

 

This isn’t the first time Stacie has walked in to check on her daughter, only to see Aubrey managing perfectly. She could live like this forever, if she was being honest. She’d never seen Aubrey smile so much in such a short time, and the same could be said for her daughter.  

 

(And if Stacie were being totally honest, the same could be said for herself).

 

*

 

Stacie’s little happy bubble burst one night, however, when she’s awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of her daughter’s cries coming through the baby monitor she keeps on her bedside table.

 

It had been about a week since Stacie had last been woken up from one of Bella’s nightmares, a major feat for the four year old. Stacie knows it was probably down to the excitement of having a house guest, but now the excitement had worn off a little.

 

Stacie padded over to her daughter’s room, making the extra effort to stay quiet so as to not wake Aubrey, opening and closing the door with a soft click. She immediately engulfs Bella in a hug, the little girl only barely awake enough to recognise her mother’s presence and begin to relax, her cries becoming whimpers, until she eventually falls back asleep. Stacie stays for a few more minutes, just rocking the both of them from side to side before she parts from Bella, tucking her hair behind her ear and pressing a light kiss to her forehead.

 

She nearly jumps out of her skin when, after closing the door to Bella’s room, she turns around to find Aubrey leaning tiredly against the wall across the hall.

 

“Shit.” She exhales, a hand reaching up to her chest, her heart beating rapidly. “You scared me.” Aubrey shoots her an apologetic smile, whispering a _ ‘sorry’ _ . 

 

“What are you doing up?” Stacie inquires, curious as to why Aubrey is awake at three in the morning and standing in the hall, having obviously been waiting for something; Stacie, maybe.

 

“I woke up when I heard Bella crying.” She doesn’t offer anything further in terms of an explanation as to why she’d decided to leave her room, but Stacie can see the worry written all over her, knows Aubrey needed to know if Bella was okay. Stacie’s heart melts because this was something so important to Aubrey that it couldn’t wait until morning, even though Stacie thought it could’ve.

 

“She’s okay,” Aubrey’s shoulders drop in relief, “she’s just prone to nightmares.” She explains, watches the tug pulling at Aubrey’s lips, the furrow of her brow, and warms at the notion that Aubrey genuinely  _ cares. _

 

“We should get some sleep.” Aubrey nods at the suggestion and shocks Stacie when she steps forward and kisses her on the cheek before retreating into the office. Stacie stands frozen for a second, her hand reaching up to touch where Aubrey’s lips had just been.

 

She can’t fight the smile that tugs at the corner of her mouth, the feeling of butterflies in her stomach, can’t fight the feelings that small contact brought to life. Her breath hitches because  _ oh, that’s new _ .

 

Suffice to say, Stacie didn’t get much sleep the rest of the night.

 

*

 

The next time Bella has a nightmare is two days later, which doesn’t surprise Stacie, it’s upsetting but it’s normal. What does surprise Stacie, however, is discovering the door to her daughter’s room slightly ajar and finding Aubrey sat on the edge of Bella’s bed, running a hand through her long, light brown hair.

 

As Stacie takes a step closer to the two, she notices that Aubrey’s lips are moving and it takes a second for Stacie to realise that Aubrey’s singing quietly; takes another second for her to process that the song being sung is ‘Songbird’ by Fleetwood Mac.

 

Aubrey keeps running her hand through Bella’s hair, even after she has fallen back to sleep with a content smile on her face, and Stacie is so overwhelmed by the sight; that Aubrey, stoic and reserved  _ Aubrey _ , would care for her daughter so much she’d get up to soothe her from a nightmare in the middle of the night without a second thought.

 

Stacie starts crying.

 

Aubrey’s head shoots up at the sniffle, clearly startled by Stacie’s sudden presence and tears. Her eyes widen when Stacie reaches for her hand and practically drags her into the hall, careful not to wake Bella, and pulling her into a fierce hug. Aubrey only hesitates for a short moment before Stacie feels her arms envelope her middle.

 

“Thank you.” Stacie whispers into the silence, feels Aubrey nod.

 

“You don’t have to thank me.”

 

“I know.”

 

Stacie pulls away from the hug and lets her hands drop down to hold Aubrey’s, squeezing them lightly to get the blonde to look up at her, notices the pink tint to her cheeks and the bashful expression on her face and she doesn’t think she’s ever wanted to kiss anyone more than she wants to kiss Aubrey in that moment.

 

So she does.

 

*

 

Stacie wakes up the next morning cold, naked, and alone.

 

She panics for a second, thinking that Aubrey had woken up and had had second thoughts and left her. But then she remembers it’s  _ Aubrey  _ she’s talking about, the same woman who doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to, doesn’t enter herself into a scenario she hasn’t thought through.

 

The woman has a plan for everything.

 

Her thoughts are interrupted by a loud, happy squeal coming from the living area, and Stacie lets out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding at the reassurance that Aubrey hadn’t left, that she was still here.

 

With newfound energy, Stacie jumps out of bed and rushes through her morning routine, not caring too much as it’s a Saturday and she doesn’t have any work planned for the weekend.

 

When Stacie enters the kitchen, she instantly draws the attention of its occupants, Bella turns to her with a wide grin on her face and flour all over her nose and cheeks. Aubrey’s looking at Bella with a fond smile, some flour coating her right cheek, her eyes holding that familiar  _ softness _ she reserves for the four year old, before she turns her gaze to Stacie.

 

The way Aubrey looks at her as she walks over to them makes her heart flutter in her chest because it’s packed with so much adoration and something  _ else _ that makes her face heat up.

 

“Mommy!” Bella yells as she reaches them, effectively drawing Stacie away from her staring competition with the blonde. She turns to her daughter, lifting her up from the kitchen counter and spins her around, making the little girl shriek in delight.

 

“What have you been up to, huh? You know the flour goes in the bowl.” She teases, placing a kiss on Bella’s forehead seeing as it was the only place on the girl’s face that was clean.

 

“I know that, silly.” Bella giggles, “We’re making pancakes!” She claps her hands together in her excitement, causing a cloud of flour to erupt, and Bella giggles.

 

Stacie eases her back onto the kitchen counter and steps over to Aubrey, who had been watching the whole interaction. She leans in, waits for any sign of hesitancy or resistance, but the blonde just shoots her an easy smile, and so Stacie closes the distance and kisses her.

 

“Good morning.” She murmurs between kisses, ignores the giggles behind her coming from Bella. “I missed you when I woke up.” She pouts, wrapping an arm around Aubrey to pull her closer.

 

“We had a visitor.” Aubrey says, amusement clear on her face as her as her eyes focus on the four year old, whose giggles had been muffled at the faux reprimanding look the blonde was giving her.

 

“She didn’t see anything, did she?” Stacie asks with wide eyes and Aubrey shakes her head in the negative and she sighs in relief.

 

“She did ask if I was her mommy’s wife, though, because according to her best friend Holly, only married people share the same bed and that’s why her dogs have to sleep in separate baskets because they’re not married.” Stacie stares confusedly at the turn that sentence took, looking from her daughter to Aubrey, the former just nods along enthusiastically.

 

“Holly has two dogs! Scout and Patch! But they’re not married, yet, like her parents so they have to have separate beds.” Bella explains as if it’s obvious and Stacie adds “dog marriage not being a thing” to the list of things she needs to explain to her daughter one day. 

 

For now she’ll let her daughter believe what she wants.

 

She turns to Aubrey who is trying to conceal her laughter, her face turning red at her efforts. 

 

“I don’t know about wives,” Stacie begins, focusing her gaze on Aubrey, “but what about girlfriends?” She lets the weight of the question settle, watches as Aubrey bites her lip as if contemplating the question and Stacie has to resist rolling her eyes.

 

“It’s a step down, but I don’t see why not.” Aubrey teases, only to let out a very un-ladylike squeal in the next second when Stacie wraps her arms around her and spins her around.

 

When she sets Aubrey down she finds herself once again drawn into a staring contest with the blonde. She leans down, pressing a chaste yet meaningful kiss to Aubrey’s lips, who reciprocates in kind, the moment broken only a moment later by Bella.

 

“Yay!” Bella yells in excitement, clapping her hands together, and Stacie finds herself laughing into the kiss, can feel Aubrey doing the same. 

 

She wouldn’t have it any other way.  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> lemme know what y'all think :D


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